Despite being a Sox fan, I see a huge silver lining in this cloud. It wasn't very long ago that everyone was moaning about how the fans were being cheated out of great pennant races by the Wild Card format. The solution was going to be...more Wild Card teams!!!

Boston just LOST a bunch of games against Baltimore. Still, there's no reason they can't win most of their last games and squeak in. The Yankees have nothing to play for and Baltimore is terrible, even if they did just lost 3 of 4 against the birds.

Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon is confident:

"Look, I understand the potential danger of [playing this bad this late]. But that's why it's a calculated attack. That's the best way I can explain it. Like Winston Churchill. He attacks at night."

Firstly Fred, The Yanks don't have to win for Trooper to be insufferable. The Giants and Knicks are losers but it doesn't slow down the Brooklyn Bullshitter!

Ron, The one fortunate thing for the Red Sox and Braves is they don't have Gene"Panic Button" Mauch @ the helm.

Red Sox and Cub fans are whiners who love to wallow in misery. The irony w/ the Sox is they have won twice recently. But, they're in the "Whoa is me" mode just like before their 2 Championships. We gravitate toward the familiar..even if it's misery. Just ask any shrink.

ChipS, I get this info about the Sox from family and friends in Ct. and Ma. I'm hearing the same ole blues from them I heard going back decades. The best predicter of future behavior is past behavior. I made my living understanding that fundamental truth.

nd--I'd bet their attitude, esp. in CT, has a lot to with having to put up with trash talk from NYY fans.

Anyway, I and most of the fans whose opinions I know are more annoyed with the crappy free agent signings that led to this than they are woebegone. It's nothing like being at the brink of ultimate victory and then losing, which was what all the old-timey Sox-fan b.s. was about.

Because somebody's got to fall off ... for the "other" to move up a notch ... the contests that are close ... that literally involve wiping out dreams ... is a better show than one team being in the lead by far. And, having no competition at all.

Think of it this way:

Obama NEEDS a tight race ... where others look like their racing ahead ... but in the end ... especially if its close ... Americans will stay engaged.

Firstly Fred, The Yanks don't have to win for Trooper to be insufferable. The Giants and Knicks are losers but it doesn't slow down the Brooklyn Bullshitter!

Can we have a collection ot get tickets for Carol Herman and Trooper York to go see Moneyball together and do a blog review? (My guess is Carol likes to talk though movies especially about "Rickey Brant").

Scarier things will happen at Fenway Park this October than the possibility of losing to the Yankees.

Spooky World, the haunted Halloween attraction, will celebrate its 20th anniversary at the historic ballpark with The Fear at Fenway.

“We continuously look for ways to use Fenway Park as a year-round venue, and this was a unique opportunity to bring together two popular New England traditions,” said Red Sox spokesman Zineb Marchoudi. “Our staff is always thinking creatively and saw an opportunity that we brought to Spooky World.”

I think the Red Sox bookending a brilliant few months in the middle of the seasons by horrible first and last months would be really funny.

I remember how distraught Red Sox fans were in April as their beautiful season was slipping away faster than than people could get mugged in the parking lot, then the great run up the rankings to put a scare in the Yankees, only to fade out again when it really matters.

Classic! But then, I'm an Indians fan, I'd prefer they beat the Yankees.

I've enjoyed our time together, but lately you've become a real downer. Too much drama and depression. Too much negative energy. I need to break it off now, before I get sucked into the same old sturm und drang. Really now, hadn't we worked all that out years ago? I'm going to hang with Mr. Brady and his gang. You'll have to face your latest existential crisis without me.

I'll touch base when you get back on your meds and return to the 21st Century.

By the way, Professor, if we're gonna talk baseball, how about this:‎ 50 years ago this day - Roger Maris hit his 61st home run. Only man to hit more than 60 without 'roids. At a time when baseball was THE national pastime, not the second tier sport it has become.

I've enjoyed our time together, but lately you've become a real downer. Too much drama and depression. Too much negative energy. I need to break it off now, before I get sucked into the same old sturm und drang. Really now, hadn't we worked all that out years ago? I'm going to hang with Mr. Brady and his gang. You'll have to face your latest existential crisis without me.

I'll touch base when you get back on your meds and return to the 21st Century.

By the way, Professor, if we're gonna talk baseball, how about this:‎ 50 years ago this day - Roger Maris hit his 61st home run. Only man to hit more than 60 without 'roids. At a time when baseball was THE national pastime, not the second tier sport it has become.

The only problem with this is also determining how many pitchers were on PEDs while pitching to the likes of Sosa, McGwire and Bonds.

ChipS, You're absolutely correct about Ct. being a combat zone between Sox/Yankee fans. My mom's family were big Sox fans, my dad's were even bigger Yankee fans. I got to listen to some great radio announcers[Gowdy, Allen, Rizzuto]. However, here's a quirky little known fact. The first year the Mets played they were trying to establish a base in Ct. No commercial tv station would pick up their telecast so they put their games on what was called back then "educational" tv. I would watch some games. What was interesting was since there were no commercial breaks you could hear Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner just casually chatting between innings.